The Moonstone: The Tale of Grado's Finest General
by Patinator
Summary: My first Fire Emblem fanfiction. The tale surrounding Valter is one of much mystery. If anything, Duessel's tale could be described as bare-bones. Perhaps this answers more questions. What I think occured on the last day of Valter's sanity. Oneshot.


PM: Well, this is my first published Fire Emblem fanfiction… It's a bit different from what any big-league multi-chapter fics written by me would be like, with its lack of paragraph-long descriptions…

As you could probably tell from the summary, this is my way of throwing out the events that made Valter the sick, sadistic, mad, and, lustfulness aside, overall awesome man he is.

It's a bit sad that all of the info about what happened that you get in the game could be compressed into about two paragraphs. _

Unnecessary disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, or anything in this story, because Nintendo/Intelligent Systems came up with the plot, to an extent. Not that it matters, because I'm not getting paid for this. Though, I did come up with a name for Valter's wyvern.

Well, let's begin. Hope I won't do too badly! And remember: italics are thoughts, quotation marks are speech, single quotation marks within speech are quoted speech, and 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 is a scene or time change. Italicized words right after a scene/time change denotes where and/or when the scene is taking place.

Rated T for: violence, blood, one case of "small-time" swearing.

_**The Moonstone: The Tale of "Grado's Finest General"**_

Unprepared. That was one thing that General Valter of Grado could have been called.

_How could he have made such a foolish mistake? He, one of Grado's Imperial Three! He, master of the skies! He, the man who rode one of two wyverns feared throughout every band of rebellious or bandit group, Leviathan? He, the one man who rivals me within the skies…?_

Oh, it seemed so impossible for such a silly mistake to be made… General Duessel had reminded everyone many times to not touch his special lance, yet…

Ah… But one cannot see the events that corrupted Valter through the rambling going on within General Glen's mind as he nervously went to his room within Grado Keep.

The blond, orange- and white-clad Wyvern Lord sighed as he came to the wooden door serving as a passable wall between a forced serious, unwavering expression and how he truly felt about the situation…

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_Many hours before…_

A man with long blue hair garbed in dark purple, gold-lined armor and a long, black cape riding atop a fearsome-looking, dark blue, serpentine wyvern rose up into the air and scanned the battlefield for his next target.

The man was the well-known General Valter of Grado, and the wyvern was Valter's trusted mount, Leviathan. Within Valter's left hand was a Silver Lance, a long lance made of pure silver with a silver-colored handle made of light, hard wood surrounding a silver rod- of all lances, it was the strongest. Only the most skilled of lancers could wield such a powerful weapon…

Valter stared down at the large, scenery-less battlefield below him. In an attempt to murder hundreds of innocents, a band of foolish, rebellious ex-soldiers had lit an entire field on fire. Vigarde had put into place a new law, not expecting to see such an outcry from the public! The fire was being taken care of by Grado's Wyvern Riders, while the rebel army was being quelled by the famous Imperial Three: General "Obsidian" Duessel, General "Sunstone" Glen, and General "Moonstone" Valter.

The aforementioned field perhaps two hundred feet below Valter was coated in a layer of singed dirt due to the blaze, and was also relatively flat, if one didn't count the bodies of rebels. The sky was cloudy, making everything look dull and gray.

"Leviathan…" spoke Valter, "…There is our target." He pointed down at a group consisting of a few Knights, a couple of Soldiers, and an Archer. They were trying to move a wheeled ballista.

With that simple direction, his dark blue mount dove straight for the Archer, and stopped mere fractions of a second after Valter's lance completely impaled him through the throat.

With simply paralyzing speed, the wyvern flew back and forth, around the small part of the rebel army, stopping every short while so he could dash straight above a Soldier or Knight, allowing Valter to easily stab through their weak helmets with his lance.

Evading all attacks and succeeding in every one of his own, the ballista was soon stuck due to the pile made of bodies and armor around it. Valter landed to allow his mount and himself to catch their breaths, when an ally rushed towards him.

It was a blonde woman garbed in green, yellow, and white, riding atop a brown, black-haired steed- Selena, the "Fluorspar". Emperor Vigarde had taken note of said Mage Knight's steadfast loyalty of the empire along with her wonderful skill in battle, and thus chose her to accompany the Imperial Three to the battle; if she proved herself worthy, the true title of "general" would be hers. As of then, she was only a temporary "general".

"General Valter!" she called out, her horse stopping a few feet before him.

Valter looked down at the blonde woman. He noted her frantic appearance. "Selena! Is something… Amiss?"

"Yes. Duessel has been surrounded, and needs help, fast! Glen is even farther away, so it's up to you. I can't assist Duessel as well as you can… Even worse, Glen needs MY help! Hurry!"

The blue-haired man nodded. "Got all that, Leviathan? Let's ride!"

With a powerful flap of its wide wings, Leviathan sped off in the direction Selena was pointing: to the northeast. Valter could indeed make out a squadron of soldiers surrounding someone garbed in familiar, dark crimson armor…

Valter's mount quickened its already amazing pace, arriving at the scene before a minute was up. Its infamous, fear-inducing screech alerted a certain red-clad Great Knight of his assistance.

The Wyvern Knight rose into the air and then dove down sharply, crushing through the helmets of two Knights with his lance. Another rise, and another dive provided similar results. Duessel pulled a Steel Lance, a smaller-headed lance with an unpainted handle, out from a holster on his saddle and began smiting a trio of Mercenaries, their swords proving vastly ineffective.

But as Valter was distracted with a Soldier that was proving to be a stubborn kill, a gleaming arrow slammed straight into his back and sent him off his mount. Duessel, too, was knocked from his mount, but by a series of fast sword blows.

All that remained, aside from the Soldier that was nearly dead, were a pair of ex-captains of Grado. The one who had assaulted Duessel was a Swordmaster, with long black hair, and a similar-colored robe, also having gold lining. He had a Silver Sword within his hands. The one who had sent Valter to the ground was a Ranger, also garbed in black and gold, with a horse having black skin and hair. A Silver Bow and the proper quiver were in his hand and on his back, respectively, along with a sword within its sheathe on his mount's saddle.

Leviathan and Duessel's horse, for whatever reason, ran away, probably frightened by their lack of riders. It was the two generals versus the two captains…

Valter found himself being combated by the Swordmaster, who had drawn a Lancereaver- a special blade of a somewhat cream-like color and a blue handle, crafted to counter lances. On the other hand, it was easy to cut with an axe.

Just Valter's luck. The Moonstone soon found his lance being combated by an axe-like sword. The fact that the Swordmaster fighting him was amazingly fast, even for a Swordmaster, didn't help. Valter could only try and hold his lance up to the lightning-fast blows…

Just as Duessel had begun to gain an edge, despite being on-foot against a horse-rider, by wielding his Steel Lance against the Ranger's Silver Sword, Valter heard the one thing he didn't want to hear at all, unless it was occurring to his enemies.

_Crack._

His Silver Lance broke, the head being snapped at the very tip of the handle. Valter discarded the broken weapon, and attempted to draw a second lance from his wyvern's holster.

But that holster didn't exist within his reach. Valter was left to defend himself with his armor-covered arms.

He could receive no help from Duessel, as the Obsidian was having his own troubles. And any soldier worth his salt knew that no armor can protect one forever. Valter knew that, and also knew it was only a matter of time before his armor cracked.

A thought came to Valter's mind. On Duessel's left leg was the lance he had always warned his fellow generals about. Never use it in battle, he had always said. Not even in the direst of emergencies. Yet…

Duessel was distracted. Valter grasped the handle of the lance, and carefully brought it out.

The lance was made completely of metal, the long handle colored black. As the handle ended, both sides of the lance curved outward. Two dagger-like blades, the front one about three times as long and twice as wide, were at the end of the head, their edges colored silver and the rest of their blades colored dark purple. An odd, dark light seemed to play at the tips of the blades…

Valter grasped it in his hands and whipped it out at the Swordmaster; the lance was surprisingly light... He had managed to evade him for some time, and was now ready to fight back. The Moonstone felt an amazing surge of power throughout his veins as his new lance met his foe's Lancereaver. The clings of lance head and sword blade conveyed the intensity of the battle…

…_Finally… Someone possesses me… Ah, one possesses me only to __**be **__possessed! Ah-ha-ha… How wonderfully ironic, wouldn't you say, Valter?_

A demonic voice was in the back of Valter's head. He ignored it, and continued whacking his new toy against his opponent's weapon. With three attacks, the Lancereaver was knocked yards away. Valter impaled the Swordmaster through the heart…

…And, he continued slashing and hacking away at his dead body… Blood sprayed the air around the Moonstone and his dead enemy.

Duessel finally defeated his own opponent, and looked at Valter's mad attack upon an almost-bloodless _corpse!_

"Valter!" yelled the Obsidian. "What in the world has gotten into…"

He looked down at his weapon. "…That… That can't…"

Valter turned. His face looked almost warped from what it had been. From calm and, as several of the female soldiers would admit, attractive, it had been transformed into the face befitting a twisted maniac.

"…Heh… Heh-heh-heh… Nothing has gotten into me, old man." chuckled Valter in response. He whistled, and Leviathan returned. Duessel's horse did as well, of its own will.

Duessel growled, and snatched the lance from Valter's hands, quickly placing it in the holster. Valter chuckled darkly.

"Ha. Fine, take back your lance, old man." sneered the transformed Valter as he put on his helmet and grabbed out his backup lance, which was also made of silver. "I don't need it… Take a load off your aged legs, Duessel. I'll take care of _every worm here._"

The man known as Obsidian could only watch with mouth agape as Valter flew into the air, his wyvern seeming to gain a… A hue. A halo. But not your typical halo, no… Not like the moon's bright glow; the beast's eyes had transformed from slightly menacing to completely demonic, randomly flashing the darkest of dark red colors.

Valter flew off into the distance, but he didn't continue flying away from Duessel for long. He came upon a cluster of Gradians, mainly Soldiers, Fighters, and Knights. All Duessel could see as he stood in shock was Valter screaming down upon the ex-Grado soldiers, creating an _**explosion **_of blood, armor, bodies, and body _parts_.

The one called Moonstone had done the forbidden… He had used the "weapon of dark design" in _battle! _That which was to never be used, but never disposed of…

As the battle came to its end, Valter was returning to Selena, Glen, a worried Duessel, and the Wyvern Riders. At least, that's what they thought.

Valter sped past the group of wyvern and horse-riders, heading straight for all of the retreating rebels. He swooped down upon them rapidly, despite having no weapons. That vile lance of Duessel's had caused the Moonstone to break one of the "knightly moral codes"; raising your weapon to a defenseless person was practically criminal!

But with each death-causing slash, swipe, and stab of his Silver Lance, he broke that rule again and again…

Vigarde was _**NOT **_going to enjoy hearing about this… The peace-loving emperor had not a single battle in his history as ruler that had either side completely wiped out. _Until then._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Glen sighed as he remembered all that Duessel had told Vigarde, Selena, and him. The Obsidian had left out the part of Valter grabbing his demonic lance; he didn't want the secret known!

A soldier knocked on the Sunstone's door rapidly, quickly getting his attention. Glen turned around and told whoever it was to come in.

A common Soldier, one of the castle guards, burst in. "General Sunstone!" he shouted, giving a hasty salute. "Permission to speak, sir?!"

Glen gritted his teeth and closed his eyes for a moment. "_**Yes. **_Speak."

"I bring bad news from the dining room. General V- Err, Moonstone has gotten into a fight!"

The famed Wyvern Lord of Grado blinked several times. "…I'll take care of it. Thank you."

The guard saluted as Glen went past, towards the eating quarters for officers.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

What he found was very shocking, and even disturbing. Valter was indeed in a fistfight, perhaps from his newfound attitude or from the champagne he had been drinking, with… Of ALL people… Glen's younger brother, Cormag.

Glen's younger, rougher-looking look-a-like was struggling to get out of Valter's range. The Sunstone came to his blue-clad, younger sibling's aid, completely smashing a chair over Valter's head.

The Wyvern Knight groaned as he fell down and attempted to get up. He opened his eyes and brushed away some blood on his forehead from the blow, seeing Glen before him, holding two chair legs.

The Sunstone was clearly angered. Bent over and panting as Cormag stood silently while looking down at Valter, he stated:

"Valter… If you _**DARE **_to harm Cormag again, I swear that more than a _**CHAIR WILL BE BROKEN!**_"

Glen turned to Cormag. "Come, brother. You'll eat in my quarters tonight. We'll leave this… _Behemoth _alone now."

The younger wyvern-riding Gradian cast a glare towards Valter before quietly following Glen.

It was from that point on that the inextinguishable flames of hate began roaring between the two brothers and Valter… Despite being of the same rank in the same army, Glen and Valter were enemies.

It was the next day that Emperor Vigarde confronted Valter about his recent actions. Valter had been summoned alone, but Cormag had managed to force all that had been heard out of a pair of royal guards.

The Moonstone had one last chance. Another terrible mistake like harming a fellow soldier or breaking a chivalric rule would, at the very least, drop his rank. At the most… Exile or even the death sentence were plausible.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_A month later…_

Despite the harsh warning Vigarde had given to the general, Valter had committed another crime. A severe one at that.

Duessel, Valter, Glen, and a few troops were sent to save a Grado village, Silva, from a bandit attack. Though they arrived late, the lowly, talent-less Brigands, Fighters, and Pirates they found were quickly taken care of. Few innocent casualties and only two destroyed homes. It was a good victory.

But while Duessel and Glen trailed the few retreating bandits to their base, Valter was left in charge of the troops. A poor mistake. Valter had actually _forced _an elderly couple to allow him and his soldiers to stay at their small hotel.

When they didn't comply, saying that it wasn't suitable for them yet, Valter did the unthinkable. His lance went straight through their throats.

He had murdered innocent people. _Elderly _innocent people! Valter threatened the troops to not tell anyone of what he had done as he took away and burned the bodies, coming up with an excuse that the two had gone out of town just as he arrived…

As the Moonstone's luck would have it, two of the troops with him had anxiously reported his actions to Vigarde.

There was hardly a trial. Valter was sentenced to immediate exile, and loss of status. He was bound up and taken to the border between Jehanna's vast southern desert and Grado.

Duessel, Glen, and the recently-promoted Selena all glared at Valter as he silently walked away. Weaponless… Homeless…

All the Moonstone had… Was his madness…

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Needless to say, Cormag and Glen were incredibly shocked, and not happily, about Valter's return a little more than a year later.

As the man once and then currently known as Moonstone rode in on Leviathan, he noticed an angered, shock-filled glare directed his way from Glen and Selena. Duessel only looked to the side.

…_That blackheart… Is still alive?! Why would Vigarde bring this… This… Damnable man back?! _thought Glen as Vigarde introduced the three new generals.

Valter had returned to the Grado Imperial Army. But this time, his acts would be far, _**far **_more devastating…

PM: Ah, finally. I'm finished. Well… How is it? Is this story ANY good? I wish to know! But nothing harsh, please. I'm sensitive!


End file.
